Protective garment



Oct. 14, 1941. v. H. cHADwlcK 2,258,946

PROTECTIVE GARMENT A Filed Aug.v 16, 1940 Patented Oct. 14, 1941 PROTECTIVE GARMENT Virginia H. Chadwick, Louisville, Ky., assigner to Earnshaw Knitting Company, Newton, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application August 16, 1940, Serial No. 352,901

2 Claims.

. This invention relates to protective garments and more particularly to a protective cape or bib for mothers and other persons feeding infants with a bottle.

Mothers everywhere frequently voicel their annoyance at having their dress soiled by milk and other liquid foods ejected or driveling from the mouth of a bottle-fed infant. Milk thus spilled on a mothers dress furthermore has a Very'oiensive odor, particularly after the milk has dried on the dress. While some mothers endure the damp and smelly consequences of feeding an infant simply because special protective garments are unknown, more fastidious mothers have taken to such expediencies as draping a clean absorbent diaper over a shoulder, not only for the purpose of protecting their dress from all matter belched or driveling from the infants mouth but also for protecting the infant against all germs infesting the mothers dress. However,

this practice is unsatisfactory and oftentimes annoying in that a diaper thus draped over a shoul- `der not only interferes with the free use of the arm but becomes easily disarranged and falls off at the slightest provocation.

It is the aim and object of the present invention to provide for mothers and other infantattending persons a protective capeior bib of absorbing cloth which effectively protects the dress against the messy and odorous consequences of infant-feeding and drooling and Is easily put on or removed and which does not b'ecome readily dsarranged through the use of the arms nor slips on on its own accord.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement oi parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since th'e invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is forthe purpose of description and not of limitation and it is not intended to limit the invention claim'ed herein b'eyond the requirements of the prior art.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates the novel bib laid out flat.

Fig. 2 illustrates a. person wearing the bib while feeding an infant with a bottle.

Fig. 3 illustrates a person wearing the bib while holding an infant after a feeding.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modified bib.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. l, the reference numeral I0 designates a bib which consists of two outer layers II and I2 of a textile fabric and an intermediate layer I3 of any suitable absorbent cloth. These layers II, I2 and I3 are joined along their edges by stitches I4. The bib is preferably shaped in the fashion shown in Fig. 1 when laid out at, and' comprises abreast flap I5 and two identical back flaps or lobes I6 on opposite sides of a round neck cutout I1. The flaps I5 and I6 have complementary shoulder portions I8 which are joined by stitches I9.

The breadth of the breast flapv I5 is such as to substantially cover the breast of the person wearing the bib see Fig. 2) and the shoulder Portions I8 are of a spread substantiallyA equal to the breadth of the persons shoulders. To prevent disarrangement of the breast iiap I5 by the arms of the person wearing the bib while attending an infant as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for instance, the side edges 2|] of said flap I5 gradually recede inwardly at a smooth curvature toward, and merge with, the outer edges of the narrower shoulder portions I8. Furthermore, the lower portion of the breast flap I5 has a substantially V-shaped cutout 2| in the center which leaves disjointed ap ends 22 and in a sense divides said flap I5 into two lobes. The disjointed ap ends permit some dsarrangement of part of the breast flap by the wearers arm, for instance, without disarranging the remaining part of said flap.

'Ihe back flaps or lobes I6, when brought together at their adjacent edges 23 by tying the bands 24 of the bib at vthe back of a persons neck, for instance, are preferably subtsantially congruent to the breast ap I5 so that the bib may be worn in another fashion, i. e., such that the back flaps I6 cover a persons breast while the breast ap I5 covers the persons back. Thus, when the breast flap I5 has become soiled after several feedings and the back flaps I6 have remained clean, the bib may be used further in the other fashion mentioned before Washing the bib. If desired, the bib may even be worn inside out before it is Washed, thus obtaining maximum service out of a bib before it needs washing. The various lobes of the bib are rounded as shown at 25 and 25al for the purpose of minimizing the chances of rolling up the edges of the bib by the arms of the person wearing it in any fashion and assuring the free suspension of these lobes at all time.

'Ihe back flaps or lobes I6, when suspended on a persons back, effectively prevent a general displacement of the protective flap I5 on the person's breast, as will be readily understood. On the other hand, the division of the breast flap I5 by the V-shaped cutout 2l into two partly disjointed lobes and the inwardly receding outer edges 20 of said lobes as well as the restricted breadth of the shoulder portions I8 contribute toward preventing, or at least localizing, the disarrangement of any part of the breast flap I5 by the arms of a person wearing the bib. Moreover, the aps I 5 and I6 are made just suillciently long to eifectively protect the relatively restricted breast area against which an infant rests While being held during bottle feeding in the conventional and medically approved way shown in Fig. 2. Thus, the relatively short iiaps of the bib will never be disarranged if the person wearing it sits down or gets up. The back flaps or lobes I6, moreover, protect the back from all matter belched or driveling from an infants mouth where the head of the infant is placed on a persons shoulder after a feeding, as shown in Fig. 3.

The bib is furthermore so fashioned that it may be laid out absolutely flat in the manner shown in Fig. 1, thereby greatly facilitating the Washing and ironing of the same.

The modified bib shown in Fig. 4 has the same breast flap I5 as the bib shown in Fig. 1, but the back flap IGa is in one piece and not parted like the back flaps I6 of the bib in Fig. 1. To facilitate putting on the bib, the back flap I6a is centrally longitudinally parted for some distance at the neck cutout as shown at 30,. Bands 3l or any other expedient means may be used to tie the bib behind the person's neck. Inorder that the sloping shoulders of the person wearing the bib may not interfere with the uniform suspension of the flaps I5 and I6a from the person's shoulders, the shoulder portions Illa are raised toward the neck opening I'Ia as shown in Fig. 5.

After the bib is of no further use to a mother as a protective cover for herself, it may then be used as a regular bib for an older child which is past the bottle stage.

I claim:

1. A bib for an infant-attending person having a neck opening sufficiently large to be unaffected by any motion of the person's head, two shoulder covers disposed at opposite sides of said opening and having substantially the same spread as the person's shoulders, and front and back covers depending from opposite sides, respectively, of said shoulder covers, said front cover having its lower portion in form of two rounded and slightly outwardly iiaring flaps which substantially cover the person's breasts but do not materially extend therebeyond and are partially parted from each other by a V-shaped notch in the lower edge, the outer surface of said front cover being uninterrupted to provide a smooth uniform surface and the side edges of said flaps merging gradually into the outer edges of said shoulder covers.

2. A bib for an infant-attending person having a. neck opening sufciently large to be unaffected by any motion of the person's head, two shoulder covers disposed at opposite sides of said opening and having substantially the same spread as the persons shoulders, substantially congruent front and back covers depending from opposite sides, respectively, of said shoulder covers, said front cover having its lower yportion in form of two rounded and slightly outwardly flaring flaps which substantially cover the persons breasts but do not materially extend therebeyond and are partially parted from each other by a relatively deep V-shaped notch in the lower edge, the outer surface of said front cover being uninterrupted to provide a smooth uniform surface and the side edges of said flaps merging gradually into the outer edges of said shoulder covers, and said back cover being centrally parted throughout its length, and releasable joining means provided on the parted sections of the back cover near the neck opening. l

VIRGINIA H. CHADWICK 

